Kupcho, Deacs moving on

Wake Forest junior Jennifer Kupcho not only capped her school-record-tying 15-under 201 total with a 5-under 67 to win the individual title by a shot, she also birdied the first playoff hole to send Wake Forest back to the NCAA Championship.

Kupcho, who won a regional medal last season, was the only Wake Forest player to make it to last year’s NCAA Championship, where she nearly won. The Demon Deacons hadn’t been to the finals in three years.

But after Wake shot 3 under as a team to climb a spot to T-6 on the leaderboard with Clemson, the Deacons then shot 1 under in the one-hole aggregate playoff to eliminate the Tigers. While only the top four scores counted, Siyun Liu, Mai Dechathipat and Monica Schumacher all made par in the first group in the playoff while Emilia Migliaccio made par in the second. Kupcho’s birdie was the only one in the playoff.

“I was just fighting for the team and knew the team needed every single one of my strokes,” Kupcho said. “I think that’s what was pushing me. It is so exciting to have the team qualify. My freshman and sophomore years I went by myself, so I really wanted the team to be with me and I’m glad to make the last putt.”

Kupcho now has six career college wins and also becomes just the second women’s golfer to win back-to-back regional medals (Maria Jose Uribe, 2008-09). The Deacons will now advance to their 15th NCAA Championship.

“This a huge accomplishment for this team,” Wake head coach Dianne Dailey said. “We have four players who get to experience the NCAA Championship for the first time. It has been three years since we have advanced from the regional, so this is great for our program.”

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SHORT SHOTS: Top seed Alabama fired its lowest regional round in school history, a 15-under 273, to post its best 54-hole regional score in program history, a 33-under 831, and win by eight shots. … Host and seventh-seeded Florida State was second after a 12-under final-round performance. … Arizona shot 6 under, the round of the day, to climb two spots to fourth. Furman, which also advanced, was just one shot worse in the final round, shooting 5 under. … Washington, the 2016 NCAA champions, are going back to the NCAA Championship after holding on for a fifth-place finish. … No. 6 Vanderbilt was the only top-6 seed to not advance. The Commodores finished T-12.